


Ephemeral

by badlifechoices



Series: fate is such a fancy word [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Crossover, Drug Use, M/M, idk maybe i'll actually write more about those two, if you count cigarettes as drugs, this is probably just crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:52:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1817551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badlifechoices/pseuds/badlifechoices
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cigarettes. He’d seen those before, though people rarely smoked those things in his century anymore. They had other drugs, less dangerous and more pleasurable ones but there were some who swore that they were nothing compared to the ‚real thing‘. Apparently it was the risk of getting cancer and dying that appealed to some people. The stranger took one and lit it before holding out the hand with the bag, offering it to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ephemeral

He didn’t like this century. It was so disorganised. There were so many problems, issues humankind hadn’t gotten over yet and the sight alone made Pavel want to scream or maybe to just tell these people to stop making a fuss about things that were so… he couldn’t come up with the right word. Irrelevant maybe. Stupid. Maybe it was just this place that was depressing him the most. The Captain had said that this was the right place – Gotham city it was called – that they would only be here for a few days at most until they got what they needed and would return to their own time. According to some people this was one of the worst places to be at this time, the 21st century and he gladly believed it, though Russia, the Russia he loved so much, probably wasn’t so much better either. Mankind had fucked up a lot in this time. Of course they hadn’t resolved all issues in the 24th century he called home either but it was a lot… cleaner and more quiet. They still had crime in their own century but it was less like this… Well, he was probably the wrong person to judge anyone, he who’d grown up mostly in libraries and lecture halls, locked away from the world until he’d been thrown into reality with his first assignment on the Enterprise. The memories still haunted him. All the people who had died, all the families who’d lost their daughters and sons, their mothers and fathers. His dreams were still crowded with dead bodies and graveyards but he had never told anyone about it because the others had to be as haunted as he was and he didn’t want to enforce their belief that he, the child, the child prodigy was too young to be confronted with all of this. Maybe they were right though, maybe he hadn’t been ready to face death and loss like this.

With a sigh, he looked down at the street, there were still cars at this time of the night; it was still so noisy even though midnight had passed at least an hour ago. He’d climbed the rusty fire escape in order to get a look at the stars but there were clouds; the steam of the factories polluting the air too much to allow a clear look at the sky. It was too cold to remain here, he was shivering but at the same time he didn’t want to go back yet. ‚We’ll have the transporter up and running in a matter of hours, just sit tight until then‘ Kirk had reassured them before the communication had broken down and left the landing party down on the planet in a strange time and place. They’d managed somehow, to find this old rundown hotel, had paid for their rooms with the currency the Commander had replicated for them earlier and now everyone was fast asleep except for the young Ensign who hadn’t been able to find any sleep. His mind was running was still running a thousand miles per hour and he had hoped a bit of fresh air and a look at the clear night sky would help him find some rest…

Now that he had a moment alone with his thoughts, he found himself considering all the possibilities he’d ignored earlier. Maybe he should request a transfer to another ship, get away from the Enterprise and all his conflicting emotions for good. Of course he’d miss the others; he’d miss Hikaru and Nyota, the two who had become his closest friends over the last year. He’d probably miss his quarters and the bridge, the Captain, and Scotty who never got tired of answering his questions about everything in Engineering. But he wouldn’t be able to make a fool of himself anymore. Of course people wouldn’t stop telling him he was too young but he was pretty sure he could deal with it if he didn’t care about the people as much as he did on the Enterprise.

A sound only a few feet away from him on the rooftop startled him and tore him out of his thoughts. Looking over his shoulder he saw another man, nothing more than a shadow on the dark roof and he cursed himself for leaving both, his phaser and his communicator down in his room. Gotham was a dangerous city especially at night. The doctor had confronted them with various horrible statistics about murders and robberies earlier. For a moment Pavel thought how ridiculous it would be to be killed by some thug in the 21st century. His father would probably laugh his arse off… But the stranger made no move to attack or threaten him. He stepped closer and in the faint light the Russian could see that he was wearing some kind of mask on his face, like the ones you saw in the old films and comic books. He’d read about the vigilantes this century was famous for but he’d never thought he’d meet one of them in person – of course not, he’d never expected to end up in the 21st century in the first place. This definitely wasn’t what he signed up for.

The man didn’t say anything as he approached him and Pavel was about to stand up and flee down the fire escape but he didn’t move, only watched as the guy sat down on the ledge next to him, apparently completely unfazed by him being here. After a while he pulled out what looked like a crumpled paper bag. Cigarettes. He’d seen those before, though people rarely smoked those things in his century anymore. They had other drugs, less dangerous and more pleasurable ones but there were some who swore that they were nothing compared to the ‚real thing‘. Apparently it was the risk of getting cancer and dying that appealed to some people. The stranger took one and lit it before holding out the hand with the bag, offering it to him. Pavel shook his head, uncertain if he should thank the man or just say nothing. The man only shrugged and stuffed the cigarettes back into the pocked of his leather jacket. They sat there for another while and the Russian used the time to muster the other more closely. His brown leather jacket looked quite worn out and it complimented the rest of his outfit. A dark shirt, with a red shape, black – leather? – trousers and heavy boots. He had his head tilted back, lips opened slightly as he sucked at his cigarette and his eyes closed. Pavel would call him handsome in a way but in the darkness it was hard to say.

„Didn’t see you here before.“ The man opened his eyes, still not looking at him and Pavel hurried to avert his gaze. Staring was a really rude thing to say. Instead he focused on his own hands again.

„I am not from here.“ How true. And how badly he wished to be back in his own time, just so he could curl up in a bed that smelled like him and not like cheap detergent.

„I can hear that.“ The other sounded almost amused. „You look like you got a lot on your mind. Sittin‘ around here all alone in the middle of the night.“ It wasn’t a question and it made him wonder how long the other had been watching him before he had made himself known. The teen just shrugged, pulling his light jacket tighter around himself as a cool breeze ruffled his curly hair.

„Vhy do you smoke?“ The man tilted his head at that, bringing the cigarette against his lips once more and blowing out a mouthful of smoke before he answered.

„It’s an old habit I picked up a while ago. Never really got rid of it too. I guess it kinda makes me feel alive.“ He didn’t sound particularly sad, just… amused in a way, though Pavel wasn’t completely sure it was a good kind of amusement. He had always been bad at reading people but this man seemed to smell like bitterness. The stranger chuckled quietly. „I think I actually started to smoke ‘cause I knew it would infuriate a guy I used to care about.“

Pavel frowned. „Vhy vould you do zat if you liked him?“

„I was a kid back then. Stupid if you ask me, stupid to trust him like I did. But I would’ve done everything to get a raise out of him.“

The other spoke in past tense and his tone suggested that the whole matter was a lot more complicated. „You and him you are no longer… ?“

„We parted ways a while ago.“ He said it so quickly that it almost sounded like an excuse but the Russian wasn’t about to say anything about it. He didn’t get the chance anyway because the guy finally turned his head to look at him.

„You got someone you like, kid?“

Now it was his turn to huff out a laugh, an unhappy smile tugging at the corners of his lips. „He doesn’t care about me. I am not sure he ewen realises I am zere most of ze time and vhen he only sees me as a stupid child who is nozeng but a bozer.“

„Huh, that sucks…“ The stranger nodded and for a while neither of them said anything.

It wasn’t until Pavel decided to break the silence, shifting a bit closer and pointing at the other’s pocket. „On ze ozer hand… can I haff vone?“ It wasn’t like he had any desire to start smoking or anything but if it felt good maybe he could try it too. It didn’t matter anyway. No one would care.

„You never smoked before, did ya?“ The stranger seemed to consider it for a moment, before he threw the stump of his cigarette away and lit another one. But instead of handing it over to Pavel, he put it to his own lips and took a drag. „I’m gonna give it to you second hand. Like this it won’t burn so much.“ And before the Russian knew what happened, the other had pulled him closer, pressing their lips together in what seemed like an open mouthed kiss without tongue.

“You’re supposed to breathe in...” The stranger muttered against his lips and Pavel nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed for not getting what the guy had been up to. “Let’s try this again...” He took another drag and this time Pavel opened his mouth, breathing in the smoke. It was weird... it tasted like shit and he didn’t feel anything really.

“I do not zink I like et...” He muttered almost disappointed as he pulled back slightly. He’d expected something... more because why would everyone like smoking so much if it wasn’t really extraordinary? How could generations over generations of people get addicted to this stuff when it was really nothing but a bit of horrible tasting smoke?

The other only grinned and shook his head, taking another deep breath of his own. “It’s no good the first time... Smoke another one or two and you’ll find out.”

The Ensign shrugged. He probably wouldn’t get the chance to try it again unless he found someone in his time who sold the stuff. Or if he managed to somehow reprogram one of the replicators and he was pretty sure the Captain wouldn’t allow it. After all the use of recreational drugs was against Starfleet regulations. And still, when the other filled his lungs again and shot him a questioning glance – as much as he could identify it as a questioning glance under the weird mask – he still leant in to join their lips, sucking in the warm smoke. Maybe there was something... after they had repeated the procedure a few times he felt oddly light but it could just be the lack of oxygen or something. Or it was just the sensation of almost kissing someone after he hadn’t done it for so long – the last time had been at the Academy during a game of spinning the bottle. Maybe that was the reason why he willingly shifted even closer once he felt a warm hand at his back, too. Maybe he was just really starved for some kind of affection. And this time it wasn’t about sharing the smoke of the cigarette; it was a real kiss with tongue and breathlessness and everything.

“Do you alvays go around and kiss strangers?” He mumbled, once they parted again, leaning back to stare into the other’s eyes – it was too dark to really make out the colour.

“Only when they’re as pretty as you are.” They parted, both shifting back into their initial positions. It didn’t take long before the other abruptly stood up. “I gotta go. I have a bat to catch.”

Pavel wasn’t quite sure if he had misheard the last statement but the other didn’t elaborate, only dug into his pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes. “Throw them away if you don’t like them.” The stranger said as he threw the pack into the Russian’s lap and when Pavel looked up he was already gone. He’d disappeared as quickly and quietly as he’d come.

It was still too dark to really see anything as he climbed down the fire escape and back into his room, the cigarettes safely tucked away in his pocket. The night hadn’t helped him with the decisions he’d have to make once he was back on the Enterprise but he was finally feeling tired. Maybe he would get at least a few hours of sleep before he had to face the others again.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote this but now I'm almost enchanted by the idea of my two favourite characters running off together to go on adventures and kinda sorta help each other with their issues a bit. So idk, maybe I'll write more about them, maybe not.
> 
> Edit 16.08.2015: Holy shit I finally proofread this thing and there were so many typos I didn't see when I uploaded it I'm so sorry.


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